The Yanky Lever and the Clever Soldier
by songsweareplayingforyou
Summary: An explanation as to why Clara was on a date with Bucky at the Stark Expo. The Doctor is not the onmy clever man who defies history.


"Doctor I still don't understand!" Clara exclaimed and he wiggled a lever. The lever bleeped loudly causing him to jump back, startled.

"It's never made that noise before," he mused.

"Doctor!" Clara said forcefully. "Why do we need to save Captain America? Isn't he Captain America?"

"What does this lever even do?"

"I mean, he's arguably one of the most powerful superheroes of his time. Why would we need to save him?"

The Doctor jiggled the lever again. Exasperated, Clara grabbed it and yanked it down.

"It's the lever that sticks, Doctor."

"Right, the yanky-lever. Why does it beep though?"

"You're the one who can fly the thing, you tell me."

"Hmm," was all the Doctor said. "We need to keep him alive, so he can save Bucky!"

"Who. Is. Bucky!" Shouted Clara. The Doctor looked up surprised.

"There's no need to shout. All you need to do is ask," said the Doctor in the way that generally made Clara want to commit murder. His murder mainly.

"Bucky?" She prompted.

"Right, the Captain's best friend, his loyal companion until the end. Well kinda. It isn't much of an end for either of them."

"What?"

"Anyways, we need to get close to Steve and hopefully we can keep him from getting killed and allowing the mass alien invasion to succeed."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

The Doctor grinned looking at Clara.

"No."

"Oh, yes."

"I'm not going to seduce America's golden boy!"

"What? No! He wouldn't go for someone like you," Clara tried to resist the impulse to slap him. "But Bucky would."

"Yeah, there's a bit of a flaw in your plan though."

"What's that?"

"I'm British!"

"So?"

"They're at war! I didn't just pop over during the German air raids for a bit of holiday."

"Says who?"

"History, Doctor! This little thing you don't seem to think exists!"

"'Course history exists, what else would I have to change?"

..

"Are you and your friend free tomorrow night? You see it's the last night I'm in town, and my friend and I want to leave with a bang," Bucky said smiling flirtatiously at Clara.

Truthfully, the obnoxious blonde beside Clara wasn't her friend. When she realized that Clara was getting all the attention, she decided that next to Clara is where she wanted to be.

"She isn't my-"

"Sure, we'd love to!" The blonde, whose name was Nan (or Ann?) said.

"Swell, I'll meet you two here at six? You'll love my friend Steve. He's great."

The next evening Clara was standing with Ann (as she found out a few minutes prior) underneath the pub awning. She saw Bucky walking up with, what looked like, his little brother. Ann sighed under her breath. Maybe Steve wasn't really coming then what would they do?

"Ladies. This is my friend Steve," Bucky said.

"Hello!" Clara said cheerfully. Although, she was a little disappointed. This certainly wasn't Captain America. He was much too small to fit the picture the Doctor had showed her.

She grabbed Buck's elbow, nonetheless. Maybe they'd meet him there. Either way, she was about to see an authentic Stark Expo. This was exciting!

..

"It was a complete bust," Clara sighed walking into the TARDIS.

"No Captain America?"

"No, just a scrawny kid named Steve."

"Huh. Maybe we should jump ahead a bit. I know the rough location of where tries to rescue the infantry."

"He tries to rescue an infantry?" Clara asked. "Well, he certainly earns points for trying."

"He gets himself killed."

"It's still brave, Doctor. You face death constantly and your not near as buff or dexterous with a shield as he is."

"Well I'm clever," the Doctor almost pouted.

"And who is to say he isn't?"

"He's all musclely and soldier-y. Soldier's follow orders. They're not clever. I'm clever."

"Whatever you say, Doctor," Clara sighed. She learned to pick her battles a long time ago. This was certainly not one she was going to fight today.

..

"Are you sure this is the right area and time?" Clara asked once more.

"Really? Do you think that little of my ability to fly this thing?"

"You just pulled out the yanky-lever, Doctor," she stated.

He shrugged. "It was pointless really. Who needs a lever that sticks?"

Clara sighed and started towards the door. The Doctor quickly scampered after her. The walked right into Captain America, except he looked like the scrawny kid, only taller. He brought his shield up.

"Who are you?" He asked. Then he looked closer at Clara. "Clara...how are you here?"

"Yeah, hello again."

"How did you...? What is that?" He asked.

"TARDIS. Weren't you smaller?" The Doctor asked inspecting the super soldier. He walked around Steve scrutinizing him.

"What is a TARDIS?"

"Please don't get him started. He's terrible. Why do you look like you just walked through an explosion?" Clara asked.

"Because I did. I rescued the rest of Bucky, and his division. Who are you people?"

"Well, you are the product of a futuristic science experiment. Think of us as the future it came from," The Doctor said. "How did you get out of that factory?"

The Captain crossed his arms. "I did what I had to."

"I told you," Clara replied. "Clever."

"Oh shut up. He's alive. Let's go," the Doctor said.

"One last thing," Clara replied. She turned to the Captain. "Good luck."

"Good luck for what?" Steve asked. He was terribly confused by these strangers.

"The future," she replied turning to go inside the TARDIS.

Steve watched as the TARDIS whirred and it dissapeared. He walked back to the men. When Bucky saw him, he rushed up to him.

"Did you find anything on your scout?"

"No, it's all clear. We can continue on."

..

"How did he get out alive? History says he dies," muttered the Doctor.

"But he was at the Battle of New York," Clara said. "Maybe history's wrong."

"History isn't wrong."

"Who is to say you're the only one that can change history?" She asked.

"Because I'm clever."

"Apparently you're not the only one."

**I saw Jenna Coleman in the first Captain America movie and my mind wandered to this little story. It's not very long, but I like it. **

**~songsweareplayingforyou**


End file.
